The mobile cellular telephone provides high quality service at affordable prices to more subscribers than heretofore possible. The basic concept of the cellular telephone is to increase the number of mobile telephone units by dividing a service area into regions called cells and reducing the power of transmission. The various cells are linked together by a central switching office which receives and transmits information in digital form between the mobile units.
Many believe cellular telephones will soon be as common as the residential and office telephone. Cellular telephones are becoming part of the standard equipment of physicians, salespersons, truckers, repairmen, busy executives and the like.
Current cellular telephones are patterned after home and office equipment and are difficult to locate in motor vehicles. Crowded conditions which exist in vehicle interiors result in a need for concepts in cellular telephones which conserve space in the vehicle interiors. Moreover, automotive safety has been reduced by their current locations, e.g., instrument panels and front seat center arm rests, being outside a driver's straight ahead field of vision for observing the road. The attention of drivers has been further distracted by providing controls which are poorly arranged, difficult to read and of inadequate size.
The current equipment is further deficient by failing to accommodate a wide range of vehicle designs and sizes. In some cases equipment designs have required substantial vehicle modifications for their adaptation to motor vehicles. The lack of accommodation has increased new model investment costs as well as manufacturing costs.
The application of the cellular telephone to motor vehicles has created a need for telephone number indexes, thereby further congesting the already crowded vehicle interiors. It will be apparent that the space problems will become even more acute if manufacturers continue to downsize their vehicles to improve fuel economy for fuel conservation and reductions in the cost of vehicle ownership. Moreover, existing telephone number indexes further distract the attention of drivers from the road.
Increased demands by government and employers for travel expense records has created an unfilled need for improved portable devices for recording these expenses. Travel expense recording devices are needed which are readily accessible to motorists and easy to use.
With the foregoing in mind, a compact, easy to use cellular telephone for motor vehicles which is universally adaptable, improves vehicle safety and provides optional features for recording telephone numbers and travel expenses would provide important benefits and fill existing needs.